


Beacon

by Karis_Artemisia_Judith



Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6171190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karis_Artemisia_Judith/pseuds/Karis_Artemisia_Judith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaoru loses faith in herself and decides to give up on kenjutsu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beacon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thearendork](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=thearendork).



> in memory of Ann

Kaoru stared at the plaque, so hard that the painstaking calligraphy swam as her eyes watered. _Kamiya Kaoru. Assistant Master_. She yanked the piece of wood from the wall and turned to fling it across the dojo, squeezing her eyes shut so that she wouldn’t have to look at it. But there was no clatter of wood against wood, no sound of the tile skittering across the floor. Kaoru opened her eyes.

Kenshin had given up his former lives as an assassin and then a wanderer, but he still walked as softly as a cat. And he must have caught the plaque because he was turning it over in his slender, careful fingers.

“Kaoru-dono,” he asked finally, “is something wrong?”

“No!” She plastered a bright smile on her face. “Of course not, everything’s fine. I didn’t realize you were back.”

He didn’t fall for it. He never did. “Why?” he asked.

“I don’t need it, that’s all. I only have one student and he doesn’t learn anything from me. I can retire. I’m going to give up kenjutsu altogether, I think, and do something else, I—” She had to stop, unable to keep the cheerful tone up as her throat tightened.

“Yahiko is a fine swordsman, but he still needs a master,” Kenshin said. “He isn’t ready to be responsible for the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū’.”

“Of course he is! He teaches more classes than I do, and he—” Kaoru tried to casually set her bokken onto a rack, but her hand was shaking and she knocked the whole frame over, practice swords clattering and rolling across the floor. Kenshin knelt to help her pick up the mess, although he first set the plaque reverently on the ledge. And when the rest were put away, he stood up with her favorite bokken in his hands.

“Kaoru-dono. You love your school and you love kenjutsu. You are the best teacher in—”

“I’m not! I’m worthless!”

“No, that you are not,” he said simply.

“But I’m weak.” The words that had been echoing in her head came out in a whisper. “You keep having to save me. Even Yahiko is a more talented swordsman than I am. How can I be his teacher? He learns more from watching you fight than he does in this dojo.” She bit her lip as if she could stop the bitter words, but they were already crowding the air. Kaoru ducked her head, blinking hard.

“Ah.” Kenshin hefted the bokken and she lifted her hands automatically to accept it. But although the polished wood came to rest against her palms, he didn’t release his grip.

“This is not the sword that protects,” he said quietly. “It is just a piece of wood. The sword is here—” Two fingertips lightly touched the collar of her uwagi, just above her heart. “It is your warrior’s spirit.”

She shook her head, face hot with shame. “I’m not like you, Kenshin. I don't—”

“I felt you,” he said. “Before I saw you. Before you challenged me. You were like a beacon—like a fire. It was as if I could hold my hands out to you and finally be warm.” His palms lifted for a moment, hovering, and his eyes closed for a moment. Then he smiled at her gently and his fingers reached out to grasp her shoulders. “And it’s not only when you fight, Kaoru-dono. You burn so brightly, every moment, because the sword of your heart is never sheathed. You are the sword that protects, Kaoru.”

“I can’t even protect myself.”

“Ah. Because you put all your heart into protecting others.” She started to shake her head again but his hands tightened on her shoulders. “You took in a vagabond gambler. An angry young thief. A murderer. You gave them a home. You gave them love. You have always been the bond that holds us together.”

“No, Kenshin, you saved them, just like you saved me. They came because of you.”

“They stayed because of you. _I_ stayed,” he added more firmly, “because of you.” Kenshin bent to pick up the panel that bore her name, the one that had made her so proud when it was new. He handed it back to her. “You have saved the life of this unworthy one every day since he met you,” he said.

* * *

 

Yahiko, barging into the dojo, groaned in disgust when he found his teacher and Kenshin staring deeply into each other’s eyes. “Oy, Kenshin, when’s lunch? And why did you take your name down, Ugly? If you’re finally going to make a new one that just says ‘Master’ on it then you’d better not let Kenshin write it for you, his calligraphy is _terrible_.” He brightened. “Hey! If you’re full Master, does this mean that I get to move up to the Assistant Master spot?”

“ _Maybe_ ,” Kaoru snapped, glaring, “but _not_ if you keep calling me ugly and _not_ unless you go out in the yard right now and do one hundred strokes!”

**Author's Note:**

> My friend Ann and I met in another fandom, but found out that we both loved Rurouni Kenshin--she had just discovered it, while I had been a huge fan years ago and still read fic sometimes. We challenged each other to write something for RK and traded prompts, but neither of us ever got around to it. I kept meaning to re-read RK and re-read some fic so that I could more confidently write something for it, and I still haven’t done that, so I’m definitely drawing on old memories here, especially for Kenshin’s speech pattern. 
> 
> Here it is, Ann–something set in the dojo, as requested. I’m sorry that it’s late. I wish you had known that you were a beacon.


End file.
